First recorded in 1585–95; perhaps jocular; earlier called Jew's trump
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It sounds something like a Jew’s harp, but much louder.
From Slate • Sep. 30, 2018
No one shall read common prayer, keep Christmas or Saints' days, make mince pies, dance, play cards or play on any instrument of music except the drum, trumpet and Jew's harp.
From Heart and Soul by Maveric Post by Mapes, Victor
Gentlemen, they will sound like something between a musette and a Jew's harp, when you are near to the player; they will not be heard at all some yards away!
From Violin Making 'The Strad' Library, No. IX. by Mayson, Walter H. (Walter Henry)
The singing was usually to the accompaniment of a Jew's harp and fiddle, or banjo.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Maryland Narratives by Work Projects Administration
When he arrived at the spring of Lisnayan in the town of Ībōwan he rested and he sat on the high stone and began to play the bamboo Jew's harp and Īgōwan saw him.
From Traditions of the Tinguian: a Study in Philippine Folk-Lore by Cole, Fay-Cooper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
